Multiple use envelope assembly



Nov. 19, 1968 RIM. PINE IETAL MULTIPLE USE ENVELOPE ASSEMBLY Filed June 24, 1966' v 5 Sheets-Sheet l ffld'eiz Z0 i105 g 41, P076 palld' zdy l B a: fg

Nov. 19, 1968 R. PINE, ETAL 3,411,699

MULTIPLE usE ENVELOPE A'SSEMBLY Filed June 24, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII rlllq Nov. 19, 1968 R. M. PINE ETAL MULTIPLE USE ENVELOPE ASSEMBLY 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 24, 1966 rannya a mfln A EAMTHHWM/ E mm 52 5 F 2m .10 a w M Y F] J J United States Patent 3,411,699 MULTIPLE USE ENVELOPE ASSEMBLY Robert M. Pine, Des Plaines, and Donald H. Koepke,

Elgin, Ill., assignors to Uarco Incorporated, a corporation of Illinois Filed June 24, 1966, Ser. No. 560,144 13 Claims. (Cl. 229-69) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A continuous form envelope assembly of the type having front and back continuous plies and at least one intermediate ply, the front and back plies being secured in marginal areas and secured together along transverse lines adjacent transverse separation lines of weakening to define individual envelope units with individual envelope pockets having insert material in each pocket, the insert material being extractable following opening of the envelope, characterized in that one of the exterior plies is provided with an access line of weakening which divides the ply into a removable portion and a reusable portion, the removable portion being releasably associated with the remainder of the envelope to create an opening for gaining access to the envelope pocket and extracting the insert material therefrom, and also to create a re-enclosing flap on the other ply which may be folded over to cover the opening for reuse of the envelope.

This invention relates to envelope assemblies and more particularly to a novel envelope assembly which may be reused as a return envelope by the original recipient thereof.

High speed printing equipment and sophisticated business machinery have rendered the common envelope construction substantially obsolete especially for use in mass mailing and the like. For mass mailing, such as multiple billings, information solicitations and the like, it is desirable that the envelope be formed from a continuous assembly such as may be easily preprinted with standard indicia when the several plies of the assembly are in their original sheet form, and subsequently printed with specific variable indicia when the plies are assembled in a manifold strip. After such printing operations, the strip may be separated into individual envelope units which may be deposited into the mail.

Recent developments along these lines include structure disclosed in the Steidinger Patent No. 3,104,799 and assigned to the assignee of this invention. This patent discloses such an assembly having the desirable structure as set forth and further discloses a means for providing the assembly with insert material which may be easily extracted by the recipient.

The aforementioned Steidinger patent discloses what, up to now, has been the usual form of providing a means for the recipient to return information, the insertion of a return envelope inside the original envelope. One limitation of this type of solution is that the outside dimension of the return envelope must be somewhat smaller than the inside dimension of the glue lines which hold the front and back plies of the original envelope together. Furthermore, the envelope pocket of the inside or return envelope has a dimension which corresponds to the inner border of the glue lines inside the reduced dimension return envelope. Obviously then, a diminishing return occurs with relation to the dimension of insert sheets which may be accommodated by the return envelope. One attempted solution is for the original envelope to be made large enough so that the return envelope will 3,411,699 Patented Nov. 19, 1968 be of standard size. However, this may result in an original envelope of excessive dimension, increasing the cost of each envelope unit. Another limitation of this type of construction is that to provide the outgoing envelope and return envelope requires four plies of stationery. Obviously the elimination of each ply of stationery of this basic number reduces the cost of the two envelopes as well as the bulk thereof.

This invention is directed to the provision of a novel envelope assembly wherein glue lines and perforation lines are so constructed and arranged that the original envelope may be reused as a return envelope by the recipient thereof.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved envelope assembly.

It is a general object of this invention to provide a novel envelope construction wherein the original envelope is provided with lines of weakening for facilitating the partial destruction of the envelope to gain access to the contents thereof, said lines of weakening being so constructed and arranged as to create a reusable envelope upon partial destruction of the original envelope by opening the same.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved envelope assembly provided with lines of weakening and adhesive lines such that partial destruction of the envelope to gain access to the interior thereof creates a new envelope enclosure having a scalable flap for re-enclosing the envelope to facilitate return thereof through the mails.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved envelope assembly wherein the lines of weakening afforded for gaining access to the interior by partial destruction of a portion of the envelope are so arranged on the envelope as to remove the original mailing indicia therefrom.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved envelope assembly wherein the means alforded for gaining access to the interior of the envelope pocket is so constructed as to cause removal of the original address from the envelope.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved envelope assembly wherein the envelope may be provided with a portion preprinted with mailing indicia, which portion is removed to gain access to the interior of the envelope and which, upon removal, frees .a new portion for presentment to view as a preprinted mailing indicia area cooperating with a flap portion formed by removal of the first portion to provide a new envelope having means for enclosing the same and returning it through the mail.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved envelope assembly including a front and back envelope ply, the front and back plies having perforation lines constructed and arranged to form a flap on one of the plies when the envelope is opened by tearing along said perforation lines to permit access to the interior of the envelope, said flap being so positioned as to remove from view the original mailing indicia on the envelope and present a new mailing indicia are to view when the flap is folded over to re-enclose the envelope.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded isometric view of the envelope assembly made according to this invention;

FIGURE 1a is a fragmentary enlarged plan view of the upper left hand corner of the rear ply 14 shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary view of a portion of the continuous stationery ply utilized to form the front sheet of the envelope assembly shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a broken fragmentary view of a portion of the stationery ply utilized as the insert sheet in the envelope assembly of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view of the stationery ply utilized as the rear of the envelope assembly shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view with portions turned back for clarity of illustration of the envelope assembly shown in FIGURE 1, made from assembly of the sheets shown in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4;

FIGURE 6 is a view of the envelope assembly as shown in FIGURES 1 through 5 after it has been opened by the recipient of the envelope and re-enclosed to be utilized as a return envelope;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary view of a modified form of the envelope assembly shown in FIGURES 1 through 6 as this assembly is sent out through mail to the original recipient;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary view of the envelope assembly shown in FIGURE 7 as it is returned to the original sender by the recipient;

FIGURE 9 is a further modified form of the envelope assemblies shown in FIGURES 1 through 8;

FIGURE 10 is a section view taken along the lines 10-10 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 11 is an isometric exploded view of a further modified form of the envelope assembly of this invention;

FIGURE 12 is a plan view of the assembled envelope shown in FIGURE 11;

FIGURE 13 is a view of the envelope shown in FIG- URES 11 and 12 as it is partially destroyed by the recipient to gain access to the interior thereof;

FIGURE 14 is a view of the envelope assembly shown in FIGURES 11 and 13 as it is reused and resent by the original recipient thereof;

FIGURE 15 is a fragmentary view of a portion of a modified envelope assembly according to the form shown in FIGURES 11 through 14 as this assembly is received and partially destroyed by the recipient to gain access to the interior thereof;

FIGURE 16 is a fragmentary view of the envelope assembly shown in FIGURE 15 as it is resent by the original recipient thereof;

FIGURE 17 is a view of a further form of this invention as it may be originally received by a recipient;

FIGURE 18 is a view of the envelope shown in FIG- I URE 17 as it is remailed by the original recipient thereof;

FIGURE 19 is another modified form of this invention prior to original assembly thereof for original maila;

FIGURE 20 is a fragmentary view of the envelope assembly shown in FIGURE 19, showing the assembly partially destroyed and being placed into a condition for reuse by the original recipient; and

FIGURE 21 is a fragmentary view of the envelope shown in FIGURES 19 and 20 as it is remailed by the original recipient thereof.

The preferred form of the envelope assembly 10 of this invention is shown in FIGURES 1 through 6. This form includes a top or front envelope sheet 12 which may have originally been formed from a continuous stationery sheet 12a (FIGURE 2) and a'rear or bottom envelope sheet 14 which may have been originally formed from a continuous stationery sheet 14a (FIGURE 4). Sheets 12 and 14 are secured together by marginal glue lines 16, 18, 20 and 22 which extend around the four edges of the sheets to form the envelope enclosure. Preferably an insert sheet 24, which may have been formed from a continuous sheet 24a (FIGURE 3), is inserted between the front and rear sheets 12 and 14 and provides the recipient with items of information.

With particular reference to FIGURES 2 and 4, envelope tops and bottoms 12 and 14 are preferably originally formed from continuous stationery plies 12a and 14a which in their original form may have spaced margins 12b and 14b, respectively, with control punch holes 120 and 140, to facilitate pin feeding of the continuous sheet through appropriate printing, scoring and gluing machines. The marginal material may be removed along trim lines 12a and 14d, respectively, after printing and assembly of the plies. The resultant continuous assembly may be separated along transverse lines 12a and 140, respectively, to form the individual envelope units 10.

Similarly, insert sheet 24 may be formed from an original continuous form sheet 24a which may have at least one margin 24b having control punch holes 24c to facilitate feeding of the stationery through appropriate printing and cutting or scoring apparatus. The insert sheet 24 may be formed into individual sheets by first die cutting as at 24d and then longitudinally trimming along a line 24e which intersects the die cut to separate the continuous sheet into individual plies 24. One alternative form (shown in FIGURE 1) is to separate the margin 24b along a line 242 which does not intersect a die cut and to further provide a longitudinal perforation line 24 leaving a tab-like portion 24g which will be captivated in the area of glue line 22 so that when the recipient of the envelope grasps the insert sheet 24, it will be separated along the frangible line 24f to facilitate facile extraction thereof.

When the continuous sheet 12a is originally formed, it may be provided with a preprinted mailing permit 26 and a preprinted cancellation mark 28 as is common with this type of mailing indicia. In addition, a return address 29 may be preprinted at the upper left-hand corner of the envelope.

While still in the continuous sheet stage as shown in FIGURE 2, a window 30 may be die cut from the lower left portion of the envelope front ply 12a. Finally, a transverse line of weakening or perforation line 31 is formed on the envelope front generally parallel to separation lines He and near the top of each envelope front. This perforation line defines a removable portion 32 which is destroyed for gaining access to the interior of the envelope by the original recipient.

Rear ply 14 may be originally supplied with the glue lines 16, 18, 20 and 22 when in the continuous sheet form and further provided with a perforation line 34 including a diagonal cut portion 34a at each end intersecting both the perforation line 34 and a fold line 38 at 3412. This perforation line 34 defines a smaller trapezoidalshaped removable portion 36 from the back ply 14. The fold line 38 is formed in ply 14 extending generally in registration with perforation line 31 of ply 12 when the plies are assembled, thereby providing a flap-portion 40 on the rear envelope ply when removable portion 36 has been removed by separation along line of weakening 34. A moistenable adhesive means 42 is applied to the extreme end portion of flap 40 to provide a means for securing the flap to the remainder of the envelope to reenclose the same for reuse. The reverse side of the flap may also be provided with a preprinted second return ad dress 44 as is best seen in FIGURE 6, as well as a space 46 for a return mailing means, such as a stamp or the like.

As sheet 24 is originally processed in its continuous form 24a, certain information may be preprinted thereon such as non-variable indicia 50 which comprises standard information, instructions or the like. Also, a predetermined return address 52 which corresponds to the return address 29 may be preprinted on the rear of sheet 24a (as seen only in FIGURE 6). Subsequently sheet 24 may be If necessary, various instructions 58 may be preprinted at selected positions along the envelope and on the insert sheet. When the recipient receives the envelope, he may gain access to the interior of the envelope by grasping the removable portions 32 and 36 of plies 12 and 14, respectively, separating these portions along perforation lines 31 and 34 as illustrated in FIGURE 5. The angle cut of the trapezoidal-shaped perforation line of the envelope back provides a grip-portion when opening the envelope which permits the glue margin formed by the front and rear envelope plies to stay together without interfering with removal of the envelope top portion.

It is to be understood that more than one insert sheet 24 could be utilized in each assembly and that the uppermost ply could be directly printed upon after assembly through window 36, if desired, which would give a high quality imprint.

After the top of the envelope, including the removable portions 32 and 36 of the front and rear plies 12 and 14, respectively, has been removed, the originalmailing permit 26 and cancellation mark 28 will be at least partially destroyed (FIGURE 1) or completely removed (FIG- URES 2 and 5) depending on the location of perforation line 31 relative to the mailing permit. Access may be gained to the envelope pocket to obtain and extract the insert sheet 24. After reading the information on the insert sheet, the recipient may be instructed to turn the insert sheet over so that the new return address will appear in the window 30. After so doing, the recipient may fold flap 40 over onto the front of the envelope, rnoisten the adhesive portion 42 and re-enclose the envelope. Placement of a stamp on space 46 will place the envelope in a condition for return mailing as seen in FIGURE 6.

A modified form of the assembly shown in FIGURES 1 through 6 is illustrated in FIGURES 7 and 8. Here a perforation line 60, which is similar in function to perforation line 31, is formed near the side of the envelope on which the original mailing permit 26 is provided. The rear of the envelope is provided with an ofiset line of weakening similar to line of weakening 34 previously described. Thus the removable portion 62 afforded by perforation line 60 may be separated to destroy the original mailing permit and the remaining flap portion 64 may be folded about fold line 66 to mask the original cancellation mark 28 and provide an area for the reception of return stamp 46.

A further modification of the embodiments shown in FIGURES 1 through 6 and 7 and 8 is illustrated in FIG- URE 9 wherein a second window 70 may be formed in front ply 12 with the mailing permit or stamp printed or afiixed to the insert sheet 24 and in a position to show through the window 70. In this case, the recipient may be instructed to reinsert the insert sheet 24 by turning it over so that the return address will show through the window as illustrated in FIGURE 6 with regard to address 54 and so that a new, either preprinted or pre-affixed, mailing permit orstamp may reappear through window 70. The former constructions do not provide for two-way permit mailing since postal regulations will not allow for two different permits to be printed on the exterior of one envelope. With this form of the invention, both the original mailing permit and the return may be in the form of preprinted mailing permits.

FIGURES 11 through 16 show a slightly different form of the basic invention with one embodiment shown in FIGURES 11 through 14 and another embodiment shown in FIGURES 1S and 16. In FIGURE 11, the envelope is provided with front and rear plies 12 and 14 similar to that previously described and a third envelope ply 72 sandwiched between the front and rear plies. The third ply 72 is narrower across one dimension (in FIG- URES 11 through 14 from top to bottom) than the front and rear envelope plies. The rear ply 14 is provided with the marginal glue lines 16, 18', 20 and 22. The side glue .6 lines 18 and 22 adhere to the middle ply 72 while the top and bottom glue lines 16' and 20' adhere to the front ply 12. In addition, the third ply 72 adheres to front ply 12 along a glue line 74 spaced inwardly from the marginal glue line 20.

Again, front ply 12 is provided with a preprinted mailing permit 26 and cancellation indicia 28 and preprinted return address 29. In addition, the front ply is provided with the recipients address 76 rather than having the window as previously described in the other embodiments. Furthermore, two perforation lines 78 and 80 are formed in the front ply to provide a means for removing removable portion 81 from the remainder of the assembly to gain access to the interior thereof and to also remove the original mailing indicia. The securement of the upper portion of ply 12 to ply 14 along glue line 16' provides a flap 82 along the top of the envelope, the underside of which may be provided with an adhesive portion 84. Preferably a diagonal cut 84a would be formed on portion 82 leaving a stub 8417 which would be adhered to glue lines 14' and 22 so that flap 82 could be freely lifted upon removal of portion 81 along lines 78 and 80.

Once the entire portion 81 is removed from the envelope as illustrated in FIGURE 13, access may be gained to the pocket 86 of the envelope to insert material therein or withdraw an insert sheet if such a fourth ply were formed as part of the assembly. It is possible that the rear of portion 81 may be provided with information 88 so that this portion may be reinserted in the envelope and returned. In any event, the third ply 72 will be preprinted with an address 89 positioned to be exposed when portion 81 is removed and may be provided with return mailing permit indicia 89. Again this construction permits twoway permit mailing. It is to be understood that instead of the return mailing permit the space may be utilized for affixation of a stamp by the original recipient. When placed in the return mail after the flap 82 has been sealed to re-enolose pocket 86, the envelope has the appearance shown in FIGURE '14.

In the modification shown in FIGURES 15 and 16, the removable portion extends across the width of the envelope, rather than along the length of the envelope as shown in FIGURES -11 through 14. Again, however, the removable portion is so arranged as to remove the original mailing indicia from the envelope. If desired, the removable portion could be formed from a short overlying ply.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURES 15 and 16, removable portion 90 is defined by perforation lines 92 and 94 which extend across the width of the envelope. Mailing permit 26 and cancellation mark 28 are on removable portion 90. Separation of this portion leaves an edge flap 96 having an adhesive 98 on the underside thereof for use in re-enclosing the envelope pocket 100' which is formed between third ply 72 and rear ply 14. The recipient may extract material from the interior of the envelope and reinsert the same or insert new material and re-enolose the envelope by means of edge flap 96. Return mailing permit 8911 may be preprinted on third ply 72 or a stamp may be affixed by the user.

With this construction, it is likely that a window could be formed on the remainder of the envelope such that extraction of insert material would remove the original address from the window and the insert material could be so printed as described with regard to sheet 24 so that the return address could be on the other side of the material and would show through the window when the material was reinserted. It is also possible that the envelope front could have the return address printed and obscured underneath a removable outgoing address label which could be removed by the recipient to expose the return address.

Another form of this invention is shown in FIGURES 17 and 18. Envelope 102 is provided with transverse fold lines 104a and 104b defining flap portions 106 and 108 comprised of the front and rear envelope sheets and straddling a center portion 110. The recipients address 112 may be printed on the envelope front and the return address 29, mailing permit 26 and cancellation mark 28 preprinted as previously described. One end of the envelope may be provided with a perforation line 114 for separation of that end of the envelope to gain access to the interior. A glue line 116 may be formed on an edge of one of the flaps and a return address 118 printed on the back of one of the flaps as well as a space 119 for a return stamp. The recipient may extract the contents from the envelope, fold the fiaps over towards each other as indicated by the arrows A and B in FIGURE 17, glue along glue lines 116 and affix a proper stamp to redeposit the envelope in the mails.

Still another concept of a reusable envelope assembly is shown in FIGURES 19 through 21. Envelope 120, as shown in FIGURES 19 through 21 is a single sheet of stationery folded about a fold line 122 to form front and rear sheets 124 and 126. The front sheet has a front face 124a and a rear face (not shown), and rear sheet 126 has a front face 126a and a rear face 126b. The front face 124a of front sheet 124 is again preprinted with return address 29, mailing permit 26 and cancellation mark 28 as well as the recipients address 128. A glue line 134 extends around three margins of the sheets other than the fold line and perforation line 136 is spaced slightly inwardly from the three glued margins to provide a means for separating the marginally adhered portions to thereby gain access to the interior of the envelope.

The rear face 126k of rear sheet 126 may be preprinted with information 140 and provided with a rernoistenable glue line 142 about its borders. After the marginal portions of the original envelope are separated along perforation lines 136 and 138, as illustrated in FIGURE 20, the rear face 126k may be folded about fold line 122 so that rear face 126b of rear sheet 126 overlies front face 124a of front sheet 124 and the front face 1260 of rear sheet 126 is exposed to view. Front face 126a may be provided with a preprinted return address 144- and preprinted return mailing permit 146. Thus as shown in FIGURE 21, after the envelope has been folded upon itself as illustrated in FIGURE 20 and adhered together by means of glue line 142, it may be redeposited in the mail by the original recipient thereof.

The envelope assembly described herein eliminates the need for a separate return mailing envelope and instead provides a single envelope which can be sent through the mail twice. The savings in the plies of stationery used lessens the cost of the unit and thereby enables a greater number of businesses to use this type of mailing product. On the other hand, by eliminating plies for the envelope construction, more information or insert plies can be supplied Without increasing the cost of the envelope. Furthermore, if it is desired that the number of information plies be maintained the same, the lowermost ply in the assembly will display a better reproduction of the variable printed. matter typed on the front ply and reproduced through transfer material means on the inner plies. As pointed out, some forms of this invention provide a means whereby preprinted permit mailing may be utilized for sending the envelope both to the addressee and returning it to the original mailing party.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for cleamess of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, as some modifications may be obvious to those skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. A continuous envelope assembly comprising; front and back, continuous stationery plies secured at opposite marginal edges and delimited by cross lines of weakening to define individual envelope units; means securing said plies together in the area of said cross lines of weakening to form envelope pockets therebetween, at least one insert ply in each envelope pocket, said insert ply captivated by means placing the insert ply in a condition for extraction responsive to opening of the pocket; spaced access lines of weakening on the front ply forming a tear-off portion which is separable from the front ply, said tear-off portion having address and postage indicia preprinted thereon; and return address indicia and return postage means formed on the portion of the assembly underlying said tear-off portion whereby the removal of the tear-off portion removes original postage and address indicia from the original envelope and exposes new return address and postage means for return of the envelope unit thereby.

2. The envelope assembly of claim 1 including a third middle ply between said front and back plies having opposed top and bottom margins spaced inwardly from ad jacent margins of the front and back plies, said third ply and back ply forming a return envelope pocket.

3. The envelope assembly of claim 2 wherein flap means are formed on said back ply with adhesive means for adhering said flap to a portion of said third middle ply to enclose the envelope pocket therebetween.

4. A continuous form envelope assembly comprising; front, back, and at least one intermediate, stationery plies, said front and back plies being generally continuous with opposite longitudinal marginal edges and being optionally coherent along spaced, transverse separation lines to define individual envelope units with the front and back plies being secured together along said marginal areas and in said transverse separation lines to form individual envelope pockets for each envelope unit, the intermediate ply being captivated in each pocket by means for placing the intermediate ply in a condition for extraction responsive to opening the pocket; and an access line of weakening in at least one of the plies dividing the same into a removable portion and a reusable portion, the removable portion being releasably associated with the remainder of the envelope so that removal thereof creates an opening for gaining access to the envelope pocket and extracting the insert ply; and means adjacent said access line of weakening for re-enclosing the pocket and forming a reusable envelope thereby.

5. The continuous form envelope assembly of claim 4 wherein the access line of weakening in the one ply is spaced inwardly from one edge of the envelope unit so that the underlying portion of the other ply provides a re-enclosing flap portion upon removal of the removable portion of the one ply.

6. The envelope assembly of claim 5, wherein another access line of weakening is formed in the other ply offset from said first access line of weakening.

7. The envelope assembly of claim 4, wherein postage indicia is preprinted at least partially on the removable portion and thereby destroyed upon removal of the removable portion along the access line of weakening.

8. The envelope assembly of claim 7, wherein the means adjacent said access line of weakening for re-enclosing the pocket is a flap portion on the other stationery ply which generally underlies the removable portion of the one ply, said flap portion being constructed and arranged to at least mask the remaining original preprinted postage indicia when folded about the remainder of the envelope assembly along the access line of weakening to re-enclose the envelope pocket.

9. The envelope assembly of claim 8 wherein a line of weakening extends between said offset lines of weakening to provide a tab to facilitate initial separation of the removable portion.

10. The envelope assembly of claim 8, wherein return address indicia is preprinted on the exterior of the reenclosing flap.

11. The envelope assembly of claim 8 including window means in said front ply, the insert ply in the pocket bearing address indicia positioned on the insert ply so as to show through the window in two positions of said insert ply.

12. The envelope assembly of claim 5, wherein an- 9 other spaced access line of weakening is formed in the one ply defining the removable portion thereof.

13. The envelope assembly of claim 12 wherein address and postage indicia are preprinted on said removable portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,877,944 3/1959 Hyman 22973 2,964,233 12/1960 McFarland 22973 10 Rabenold 22973 Hiersteiner 22973 Hayes 22973 Hayes 22973 Donovan 22973 Armort 22973 DAVID M. BOCIQENEK, Primary Examiner. R. PESHOCK, Assistant Examiner. 

